


Too Late

by Alexandria (heartfullofelves)



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, F/F, Pre-Series, Secret Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 06:28:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17862083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartfullofelves/pseuds/Alexandria
Summary: By the time Maria works out her feelings for Rosa, it's too late.





	Too Late

Maria didn’t always know. Well, she’d always known she was into girls as well as guys – the _Xena_ reruns she’d caught on TV had confirmed _that_ – but she didn’t know why she blushed whenever Rosa looked at her. Nor did she know why she got a strange feeling in her belly whenever Liz talked about what Rosa was up to. It had never occurred to Maria that she might be in love with her best friend’s older sister. She’d chalked it up to admiration. Because Rosa was _cool_.

That night at the Wild Pony, when Rosa talked about Liz’s probably fruitless road trip and avoided Isobel Evans, all the while writing on her hand, Maria realised. A revelation like that was most inconsiderate when you were studying for a test, but it couldn’t be ignored. She avoided Rosa’s gaze until Rosa left.

Even as she read and reread her notes, the idea that she was in love with Rosa didn’t leave her mind. She sweated, full of nerves. Rosa was beautiful, and eccentric like Maria. She was the wild spirit Maria wanted to be, encouraging Maria to stay true to herself.

The two of them would make a hot couple, she thought with a tiny smirk. And not just because she was drawn to the danger that Rosa represented. A memory of them smoking on the rooftop under the stars sneaked its way into her mind. Brushing shoulders with Rosa and talking about this crap town, Maria had felt relaxed. It wasn’t just because of the joint.

She didn’t know whether to tell Liz about this. It would be weird, wouldn’t it, finding out your best friend had the hots for your sister? It wasn’t the sort of thing you’d want to know about the people close to you.

Maria sighed, sucking on her pen. She’d wait, she decided. She didn’t have to do anything yet. There was plenty of time to work her way up to acting on these feelings; she didn’t have to rush.

* * *

But before she had the chance to do anything, the news came. There’d been a car accident. Rosa and two other girls from town were dead.

Maria was stricken. She’d talked to Rosa just last night. Yes, Rosa was young and reckless, but people their age didn’t die. Death was for grandparents and elderly neighbours. Death was for people who’d had a chance to live.

This gorgeous girl she’d just realised she was in love with couldn’t be dead. It was all a horrible mistake.

* * *

She had to be there for Liz. Her poor, wonderful best friend had lost the most important person in her life and her dad was out of his mind with grief, unable to carry her through it. The Ortechos were broken. Maria couldn’t imagine losing the one person you’d looked up to since you were born. If Rosa’s death hurt this much for Maria, Liz’s pain had to be so much deeper.

She opened her arms to Liz, appearing for all intents and purposes the supportive friend. But the tears she cried as Liz sobbed into her shoulder weren’t just borne of empathy. They were also borne of regret.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: “Maria/Rosa, death, regret” on [Bring Her Bleeding Heart to Me](https://kimaracretak.dreamwidth.org/36680.html) (a dark femslash commentfic meme for Femslash February).


End file.
